Amazon.com Inc. is developing a voice-activated wearable device that can recognize human emotions. The wrist-worn gadget is described as a health and wellness product in internal documents reviewed by Bloomberg. It’s a collaboration between Lab126, the hardware development group behind Amazon’s Fire phone and Echo smart speaker, and the Alexa voice software team. Designed to work with a smartphone app, the device has microphones paired with software that can discern the wearer’s emotional state from the sound of his or her voice, according to the documents and a person familiar with the program. Eventually the technology could be able to advise the wearer how to interact more effectively with others, the documents show. It’s unclear how far along the project is, or if it will ever become a commercial device. Amazon gives teams wide latitude to experiment with products, some of which will never come to market. Work on the project, code-named Dylan, was ongoing recently, according to the documents and the person, who requested anonymity to discuss an internal matter. A beta testing program is underway, this person said, though it’s unclear whether the trial includes prototype hardware, the emotion-detecting software or both. Amazon declined to comment. The notion of building machines that can understand human emotions has long been a staple of science fiction, from stories by Isaac Asimov to Star Trek’s android Data. Amid advances in machine learning and voice and... Continue reading at 'Advertising Age'
[ Advertising Age | 2019-05-23 22:06:23 UTC ]
Lee Iacocca, the U.S. auto executive and television pitchman whose feel for consumers’ changing tastes helped produce the Ford Mustang and the Chrysler minivan and made him one of the first celebrity CEOs, has died. He was 94. His death was confirmed Tuesday by Fiat Chrysler Automobiles in a... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2019-07-03 14:58:55 UTC ]
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AT&T Inc. is weighing a sale of its regional sports networks as part of a plan to cut as much as $8 billion in debt by the end of the year, according to people familiar with the matter. The four regional networks, which includes rights to teams such as the hockey’s Pittsburgh Penguins,... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2019-07-02 19:54:11 UTC ]
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AT&T Inc. named Ann Sarnoff as the first woman to lead Warner Bros., filling a key vacancy created by the departure of Kevin Tsujihara following a sex scandal. Sarnoff is currently president of BBC Studios America and has more than 30 years of business and media experience, AT&T’s... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2019-06-24 21:32:18 UTC ]
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Facebook Inc. is under pressure to rid its site of hate speech and fake news but warned it can’t build a platform impervious to human nature. “This is not a fully solvable problem,” Carolyn Everson, a vice president responsible for marketing at the social media giant, said on a panel Tuesday at... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2019-06-18 20:37:03 UTC ]
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News Corp. said it is evaluating options for its News America Marketing business that could include a sale, which would leave the publisher of the Wall Street Journal and New York Post more purely focused on media while removing what’s been a troubled unit. The review of News America, which... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2019-06-18 20:05:16 UTC ]
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Large restaurant chains Red Robin and White Castle are reporting shortages of Impossible Foods Inc.’s popular meat-free patties, even as the plant-based food producer embarks on a nationwide expansion with Burger King. Calls to a dozen Red Robins and the same number of White Castles on Thursday... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2019-06-14 15:48:17 UTC ]
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Salesforce.com Inc., which makes America’s dominant sales-tracking software, agreed to buy Tableau Software Inc. in an all-stock deal valued at $15.3 billion that it said will help give customers more ways to analyze data. The takeover will mark Salesforce’s largest deal to date, according to... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2019-06-10 16:51:13 UTC ]
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Beleaguered bookseller Barnes & Noble Inc. has a buyer. Elliott Management Corp. agreed to purchase the chain for $6.50 per share in an all-cash transaction valued about $476 million, plus the assumption of debt, the company said in a statement Friday. Barnes & Noble shares rose as... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2019-06-07 16:16:58 UTC ]
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Amazon.com Inc. is interested in acquiring prepaid wireless phone service Boost Mobile from T-Mobile US Inc. and Sprint Corp., Reuters reported, citing people familiar with the matter. Amazon is considering buying Boost for an attached wholesale deal that would allow the buyer to use T-Mobile’s... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2019-05-31 17:33:29 UTC ]
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Gap Inc. tumbled as much as 16 percent—the most since 2016—after the clothing retailer reported a slump in sales at both its namesake line and Old Navy, threatening the potential appeal for a spinoff of the discount chain. Same-store sales, a key measure of a retailer’s performance, fell 4... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2019-05-31 15:50:27 UTC ]
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Walt Disney Co. is following Netflix’s lead in threatening to leave Georgia if a controversial anti-abortion law takes effect. Disney CEO Bob Iger told Reuters on Wednesday that it would be “very difficult” to keep film production in the state if the legislation becomes law next year. A... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2019-05-30 14:39:17 UTC ]
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Amazon.com Inc. is developing a voice-activated wearable device that can recognize human emotions. The wrist-worn gadget is described as a health and wellness product in internal documents reviewed by Bloomberg. It’s a collaboration between Lab126, the hardware development group behind Amazon’s... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2019-05-23 22:06:23 UTC ]
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ESPN President Jimmy Pitaro says the sports network is “all hands on deck” to attract more women and younger viewers, a crusade that includes a new streaming service launched last year. The Walt Disney Co.-owned cable giant introduced its ESPN+ online service a year ago, and it has drawn over 2... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2019-05-23 22:01:09 UTC ]
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Twitter co-founder Ev Williams said Wednesday that the social network might have been quicker to recognize and address the potential for abuse and harassment on its platform if the company’s leadership had been more diverse. When Twitter went public in 2013, it came under fire for having only... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2019-05-23 19:28:23 UTC ]
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Rihanna revealed her first Fenty collection in Paris on Wednesday evening. She arrived wearing a blazer as a dress—the white canvas number had exaggerated shoulders and was cinched in at the middle with a built-in corset—paired with strappy going-out heels in gold leather, all from her new... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2019-05-23 16:56:09 UTC ]
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Amazon already brings joy to the millions of people who receive its packages, but now it wants to know how you’re feeling during the other 1,400 minutes in your day. Bloomberg reports that Amazon is developing a new wearable device “that can discern the wearer’s emotional state from the sound... Continue reading at PC World
[ PC World | 2019-05-23 14:16:00 UTC ]
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Every 36 hours on average, American local news outlets deliver a new report on violence at a McDonald’s. A group of employees in Chicago say workers bear the brunt of such incidents—enough to constitute a pattern of regular on-the-job violence they want the company to address across the U.S. In... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2019-05-22 14:33:16 UTC ]
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McDonald’s Corp., in the face of criticism for its handling of harassment complaints, said it’s training workers to deal with the issue and is starting a hotline for victims. In a letter responding to an inquiry from U.S. Senator Tammy Duckworth, Chief Executive Officer Steve Easterbrook said... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2019-05-21 15:09:47 UTC ]
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ESPN The Magazine is now the latest publication to abandon print. Regular editions of the monthly will cease after the September release of “The Body Issue” and the publication will go online-only, Walt Disney Co.’s ESPN said in a statement. “Consumer habits are evolving rapidly, and this... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2019-04-30 00:00:00 UTC ]
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American Media Inc. is selling the National Enquirer to Hudson News Deputy Chairman James Cohen, according to The Washington Post, letting the embattled publisher jettison the tabloid after being accused of trying to blackmail the world’s richest man. Cohen will pay $100 million for the... Continue reading at Advertising Age
[ Advertising Age | 2019-04-19 00:00:00 UTC ]
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